For half a century, critics have argued that marijuana does not fall under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, a category purportedly reserved for drugs with a high potential for abuse and unacceptable medical use, even under a doctor’s supervision. Not safe to use. Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) finally agreed, implicitly admitting that the federal government has been lying about marijuana for decades.
‘This is monumental,’ President Biden declare. That’s true insofar as the monument looks impressive but doesn’t accomplish much beyond that.
Biden is trying to energize young voters, whose turnout could be crucial to his reelection. But those voters overwhelmingly support legalizing marijuana, and the Justice Department’s proposal falls far short of that goal.
The proposed rule, which would receive public comment for 60 days before being finalized, would move marijuana to Schedule III, which includes prescription drugs such as ketamine, codeine-containing Tylenol and anabolic steroids. But that doesn’t mean cannabis will be legal for use as a medicine, which requires regulatory approval of specific cannabis products.
Because marijuana is listed on Schedule III, state-licensed marijuana vendors will still be criminal enterprises under federal law, albeit with lighter penalties. Although the Congressional Spending Rider, which is updated annually, prohibits the Department of Justice from interfering with state medical marijuana programs, prosecutorial discretion is the only protection for businesses that serve recreational consumers.
The federal illegal status of state-sanctioned cannabis businesses discourages financial institutions from servicing them because of the potentially devastating criminal, civil, and regulatory consequences of doing so. Adding cannabis to Schedule III won’t solve the problem either.
Biden describe The rescheduling is “an important step in reversing longstanding inequalities” caused by the federal government’s “failed approach to dealing with cannabis.” But it won’t “decriminalize marijuana use” as he promised during the 2020 presidential campaign: Simple possession of marijuana, even for medical purposes, will still be a federal crime punishable by a fine of at least $1,000 and a maximum of One year in prison.
While Biden has decried the “unnecessary barriers to housing, employment, and educational opportunity” created by marijuana criminalization, rescheduling would not remove those barriers. He also did not offer pardons to people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law: Although Biden claimed he was “expunging thousands of convictions,” that is not the case because presidential pardons do not expunge criminal records.
Rescheduling, even when combined with clemency, does not lift the various legal barriers associated with marijuana convictions, marijuana consumption, or participation in the marijuana industry. These include the loss of Second Amendment rights, a policy Biden defends, and ineligibility for entry, legal residence and citizenship under immigration laws.
What Do Rescheduling done? In fact, two of the main benefits of adding cannabis to Schedule III are reduced regulatory barriers to medical research, and financial benefits to state-licensed cannabis suppliers, who will no longer be prohibited from taking standard deductions when filing federal tax returns. Business expenses.
That’s not nothing. Abandoning the pretense that marijuana qualifies as Schedule I would also represent some progress.
However, the reversal comes as 38 states have legalized medical use of marijuana, 20 states have further legalized recreational use, and seven in 10 Americans oppose marijuana prohibition. In this case, acknowledging what most of us already know is a sadly inadequate concession.
Rescheduling and clemency will not solve the core problem with today’s cannabis: the conflict between a federal government that maintains a scientifically dubious, morally bankrupt policy and states that steadfastly reject it. And Biden, despite his masquerade as a longtime drug kingpin and seeing the error of his ways, is a big part of the problem.
The president has steadfastly resisted attempts to resolve the conflict by repealing federal marijuana prohibition, citing past concerns about “gateway drugs.” Even while denouncing the injustice caused by the “failed approach to cannabis,” he persisted.
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